V50 Clutch problem

[westpole]

My V50 has developed a problem with its clutch.  It is a new 3 plate clutch and for the first 100 miles all was well.  Now, it stalls/lurches when engaging 1st and non amount of cable adjustment makes a difference.  Any advice on what I need to be looking at??  I am now assuming something isn’t happy inside the engine.  It’s also got a DR 130 kit and little polini banana exhaust so not much tuning going on!  Any advice greatly appreciated.
cheers.

[Yoshi]

1. What oil are you using?

2. Did you soak the discs in oil for a day before assembling the clutch?

3. When you take a look at the clutch, see if the tabs are mushroomed against the clutch basket and the basket for grooving.

4.Take the clutch apart and see if the intermediate discs have warped. This is likely the the reason for clutch drag. Cause for warping might be the answers to 1 and 2.

[westpole]

Hi Yoshi
Thanks for the fast reply👍. I have used fresh SIP SAE 30 oil, soaked them overnight. Will now look at 3 and 4! Many thanks.

[Yoshi]

Sounds right. Heat is the enemy of intermediate discs and can make them warp. I warped mine on a 200m drag starting line when revving in gear with clutch pulled in. There was already some drag which caused heat buildup on steel discs and that was it. Replaced the intermediate discs and now the clutch is golden again.

[westpole]

👍👍. In your opinion is there any merit in a 4 plate set-up??

[tzsteve]

4 plates wont cure any problems unless you know what the problem is first,

Four plate can provide less slip and are good up to about 18 or 19 bhp but they have a life of about 1000 miles if you have a fast motor then the dogs ( the sticky out bits ) get worn and mushroomed.

They have the advantage of being cheaper than the likes of hartz4 or 5 and are easy to fit, they usually have a stronger spring so a long lever clutch cover is often used with these.

If you want to try one i have a surflex set still in the box plus a second set that have been soaked in oil but never fitted. £20 for both posted

[tzsteve]

An afterthought,
I had similar odd problems once the clutch spring had snapped ( a badly made spring )

[westpole]

Hi 
so, I have dismantled the clutch and there was debris in the casing.  Clutch spring was sound but the plates were/are dry and smell very “corky”.  Colour On a couple of them is very dark!  Could this have caused binding??  Thing as well is that I have measured the thickness of my steels and corks (1.49mm) and 2.99 respectively). A mate said they might have been too thick for the spider??  8 dunno - you fellas got any opinion?? Thanks.

[tzsteve]

They get dark once used
Thickness sounds about right,

Could you explain what you mean by debris and how much there was,
the oil will show some very fine swarf after only a few miles but this will only be a trace of very fine stuff

[westpole]

Sorry to mis-lead you: I meant to say there wasn’t any debris! It was pretty clean all around the basket etc.  The oil is as you describe.  I need to have a closer look to see if the plates are warped but assuming they aren’t, I am stumped to suss out what’s causing the lurching etc.  I will take you up on the offer of the parts.  Please advise next steps👍👍

[henri]

i think whilst clutch cover is off i'd investigate the state of the plunger an the action of the clutch arm .plungers wear underneath where the arm acts on them ,arms can break , an shafts can bind in the covers .all these things can give you a none operating clutch .H

[westpole]

Thanks Henri - will do!

[tzsteve]

At least the clutch button is very cheap if that is the problem

[tzsteve]

Was this problem solved?